Drill instructor Sgt. Eliseo Echevarria (above, right) scolded recruit Kameron Eck (above, left) of San Marcos about the release on his M-16. Said Echevarria: "Because (recruits) know we are combat vets, they ask us if it is OK to be scared ... in combat."

CAMP PENDLETON – Conventional wisdom says the most dangerous force on the battlefield is a Marine with a rifle. And each year, some 17,000 Marine recruits who attend boot camp on the West Coast learn marksmanship on Edson Range at Camp Pendleton.

The awards banquet is two weeks away, but some volunteers are boycotting it because local Special Olympics director Walter Jackson isn't welcome. The Greater Games are supposed to be held the first weekend in June, but planning is behind schedule and many are convinced that the annual clash of 900 athletes won't take place.

SAN DIEGO – On the grassy lawn where Balboa Park meets Laurel Street, the city's largest-ever-recorded public rally kicked off a year ago April 9, with upward of 50,000 people joining a massive pro-immigrant march.

LA JOLLA – Imagine this: Some people in their 90s don't need medicine because they have “healthy genes” that override other genes bent on causing disease. Scientists translate this knowledge into compounds that extend life for others.

The phenomenon of the celebrity politician is the stuff of endless sequels. In Arnold Schwarzenegger, California has its second actor-governor. Fred Thompson wants to leave “Law & Order” to run for president. Athletes, pop singers and television chatterheads now look to politics for rebound careers.